Jimmy Carter - Billygate

To further complicate matters for Carter, his younger brother, Billy, came
under attack in the summer of 1980. A jovial fellow with a drinking
problem, he had already embarrassed his more earnest brother on several
occasions. Now, critics filed charges concerning his connections with
Libya, a country ruled by the dictator Mu'ammar al-Gadhafi, a
financial backer of international terrorism. The complaints included the
charge that the president had used American intelligence information to
assist Billy. The latter had made a deal with an American oil company to
buy Libyan crude oil, had obtained a $220,000 "loan" from
the Libyans, and had made various efforts to promote Libyan and Arab
interests in the United States. Senate investigators concluded that Libya
had cultivated Billy's friendship in hope of gaining influence in
Washington and that by responding to these overtures he had acted contrary
to the interests of the United States and merited severe criticism. The
senators also concluded that Billy had no influence but that the president
and some of his aides deserved criticism for ill-advised use of Billy to
enlist Libyan aid in the hostage crisis and for possibly giving Libyan
officials a false impression that he had influence in Washington. But the
investigators found no evidence that anyone had done anything illegal or
seriously improper to help the president's brother. The episode
damaged the president for only a short time.